This review is from: Microsoft licensed Energizer 2X Charging System for Xbox One (Video Game)

I got a Xbox One a few weeks ago and have already gone through a four pack of Duracell AA batteries (plus the two it comes with). I knew continuously buying regular batteries would get expensive so I started looking for chargers.There are four options on the market right now: the play and charge kit, the Dreamgear dual charging dock, the Nyko charge base and the Energizer 2X charging system by PDP.

The Play and Charge kit (whether the official MS or the Nyko version) never really made sense to me. Why have a wireless controller if you have to go to back to wired when you need a recharge? Kind of defeats the purpose of having a wireless controller. The Play and charge kits were quickly ruled out.

The Dreamgear seemed like it would do a decent job, but I have absolutely no experience with the brand. Also, having the controller rest upside down kind of bothers me (i admit it’s a little nit-picky on my part, but it’s my money so I get to decide what I do and don’t like). It also looks a little dated (kind of like a shuttle craft from one of the earlier Star Trek movies). I own the Xbox 360 version of the Nyko charging station and it does a good job but is occasionally sensitive (every once in a while it doesn’t start charging when you set the controller in it). That left the PDP model.

I got several gift cards from a large national gaming store for Christmas so I used them to buy the Energizer 2X charging station. It comes with two rechargeable battery packs, which was nice. The stand comes in two easily assembled pieces (you just snap one into the other and it’s ready to go). I’ve got mine on the entertainment center next to my receiver. The design goes with my glass, wood and metal entertainment stand pretty well.As a bonus, the black and dark gray color scheme matches my Harman Kardon receiver’s color scheme.

I wondered how my controller would fit into it but the clear plastic is designed almost like a guide rail. It guides the controller into the correct position to start charging. It’s as simple as it gets. The clear plastic is illuminated by a red LED to show it’s charging and a green LED when it’s finished. It only illuminates when there’s a controller present, otherwise all lights are off. The actual LED bulbs are not visible, they simply shine through the clear plastic like a prism. While the entire plastic piece is lit it is not overly bright. Remember, this is in my entertainment stand right below my TV. We watched “Elysium” last night while my controller charged and it didn’t distract from the screen like my receiver’s display (which fortunately is set to fade out five seconds after the last button press).

It’s only been a couple days, but so far I’m liking the choice. My only worry so far is how it will hold up. the plastic is firm but very light. Those with younger kids or who are rough on their belongings may want to look elsewhere.

Edit – The product description says the LED’s are blue and green, but that’s incorrect. It’s red and green.

This review is from: Microsoft licensed Energizer 2X Charging System for Xbox One (Video Game)

I bought this item from my local big box seller on launch day and have to say I like how it charges but I wish it had a way to secure the controllers into the unit.

When you get the chargers it looks pretty nice I like the way it looks in my entertainment console. The batteries are NiMh and they kind of look like they took 2 batteries and taped them together (which I’m more than fine with) kind of like wireless landline phones.

You get a new backplate that has a hole in it for the contacts on the batteries to hit the contacts on the stand. The first time I put it on it took me a few tries to get it to fit right but the second controller was much easier. The batteries do come pre-charged but I really can’t tell you how much since I synced the controllers then put them on the charging base to charge.

The base lights up green when they are fully charged and red while charging. You have to slide them in just right to line up the holes but it’s fairly easy since the clear hook has a notch that you line up with the Xbox button on the controller, so as long as those line up as you are putting it in you will have no problem.

The cons:Nothing holds the controllers to the base except for the clear hook, if you have kids and they run around and you don’t have the base in a secure area the controllers could very easily get knocked off of it. I normally wouldn’t care but since they are new and cost $60 each I want to prolong their life as much as I can.

If a battery pack goes bad after a year or two will I have to buy a whole new base unit to just get a new battery? I am not giving it a minus on stars for this point since I haven’t researched this much but I think I will. It would be nice to just buy new packs and maybe that is an option I just don’t know.

I took the one star off due to how easy it is to bump off the controller. I can’t tell you how long they last since I’ve never had any issues with long gaming sessions and I put them on the base daily so they will last you all day. I do perfer this over the play and charge kits MS has since it is much cheaper to charge 2 controllers since you don’t need to buy 2 play and charge kits.

If you have any questions please ask I can probably answer for you.

******Edit: like I said in the comments you can’t charge via usb port, you must use the base.

******Edit 2: After using this for 3 months and a few marathon gaming sessions I can say the battery life kind of stinks if you are using your chat headset. Each pack is rated at 20 hours of useage but when I have my headset plugged in I get maybe 10 hours of usage. I haven’t tested it with just controller since I am usually always chatting with friends as I play. It’s a good thing there are 2 so you can swap out the one when it dies. The batteries do charge quickly though.

******Edit 3: The patch MS pushed out that shows battery life will not show that the batteries have a full charge. On my console it shows up as 50% for hours of gaming so if you see that do not worry it’s just their software isn’t reading the battery correctly.

*******Edit 4: Before a year was complete the batteries were not holding the charge and I had to move them around to find a spot for them to charge so I threw them away and went to regular rechargeable batteries (white Amazon brand). The top spot never worked and the bottom you had to put it on then pull it off and skew it a bit to get it to charge.